


Tell Me It's Real

by DragonSilk



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Anonymous Sex, Blindfolds, Bondage, F/M, Mystery, Reader-Insert, Romance, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-05-19 08:47:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19353556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonSilk/pseuds/DragonSilk
Summary: It was an easy way to make money. You just needed to check into the hotel and put on the provided blindfold. Once that was done, he would come in and practice kissing with you. It was just kissing, and the money on offer was quite a lot. Who wouldn’t take the offer?





	1. Chapter 1

It started with a letter.

The letter had been typed and tucked into your mailbox with your mail. Whoever wrote it seemed to be aware of your money problems, but that could have been a lucky guess. Most people your age had some sort of issue with money after all.

The letter offered money if you could follow the rules stipulated in the contract. All you had to do was sign the contract and show up on the designated time and date. If you followed all of the rules, the money would be yours after an hour.

It was a lot of money for just an hour of your time.

You were worried that the person on the other end of the letter was a psycho. The offer was too good to be true. There probably wasn’t any money in it for you. You’d show up and get murdered.

Even if that wasn’t the case, what if he decided that he did want sex? Once this person had you at his mercy in a hotel room, he could do whatever he wanted to you.

You didn’t even have a way to contact this man and ask questions. Either you showed up with a signed contract or you didn’t.

The letter only gave you two days to make a decision.

You decided that it was too dangerous. You decided that you needed that money too much to say no. You decided that the money was a lie. You decided that even if the mysterious letter writer wanted to have sex, you would probably say yes for that much money. You decided that it was a serial killer.

In the end, you showed up to the hotel at the time and date. In one hand, you had the signed contract, and in the other hand, you had a small wallet. If you tried bringing anything else into the room, you would be in violation of the contract itself.

At the front desk, you provided your name and ID. They gave you a key and directions to the room. You declined the offer to help with your bags. You didn’t have any.

The room ended up being a massive suite on the top floor of the hotel. You felt a little bit better knowing that whoever this person was, they clearly had enough money to burn on an expensive room.

_Put the signed contract on the table next to the blindfold._

The suite had a large living space with a couch and a TV. You found a blindfold sitting on the little coffee table in front of the couch. Per the instructions, you put your signed contract next to it.

_Strip down to your underwear._

As you pulled off your clothes, you could feel your stomach churn. This rule worried you the most. If you weren’t expected to have sex with the letter writer, why did they want you to take off your clothes? You could kiss fully clothed.

But the contract had said you would allow him to touch you with his hands. You just hoped that you would be able to go through with that part.

You folded your clothes and put them down on the couch.

_Put on the blindfold and then wait on the bed._

You picked up the blindfold and took it into the bedroom. The bed itself was a massive king-sized bed with the kind of fluffy mattress that you only saw in hotel rooms. You opened one of the drawers next to the bed and put your wallet inside. If the man opened the drawer, you would hear, and it was silly to worry about your wallet getting stolen when you might be able to die, but you were still worried about it.

Once your wallet was tucked away, you put the blindfold on. The material was heavy and thick. It turned the whole world black. You wouldn’t even be able to make out the outline of the man with this on.

With your hands, you found the edge of the bed and then sat down on it. You wondered how long you would have to wait.

_Don’t take the blindfold off at any point for any reason._

Given his desire for anonymity, he would probably wait a while to ensure that you had the blindfold off. Then again, if he waited too long, you might remove it and bolt.

You wanted to bolt.

You told yourself that you should run now while you were still alive.  

Then the door opened, and you froze. He was here. You listened to the door click shut. Was that the lock or just the door closing? Did he just lock the door?

Then you could hear footsteps. You held your breath, waiting as the footsteps got louder. They stopped, and you looked in the direction of the doorway, even if you couldn’t see anything. The silence stretched out.

What was going on? “Hello?”

He cleared his throat, and you felt yourself flinch. “Thanks for coming.” His voice was deep but in a fake way. It sounded like he was trying to make it sound deeper than it really was. Still, something about it sounded familiar.

“Do I…” Did you really want to know if you knew this man? “How do I know you won’t kill me?”

He was silent, and you wondered if he was just getting his knife out to stab you now.

This was too much. You were going to die. You needed to get this blindfold off so you could run. You reached up to take off the blindfold–

He grabbed your wrists. You recoiled back, away from him, but his grip on your wrist was tight. “No,” he growled. “The blindfold stays on.”

You nodded, unable to speak.

“Did you read the contract?”

You nodded. “Yes.”

“You know what to do if you want to leave then.”

It wasn’t a question, but you nodded.

_If you want to leave at any point, say ‘quit’._

You reminded yourself that you needed the money. This money would help you keep afloat. It would relieve a lot of your stress.

He released your wrists, and one of his hands gripped the back of your arm. The hand ran up to your shoulder and down again. You felt your muscles tense as this man rubbed your arm. Why had you thought you could handle this?

Then his hand ran up your shoulder and kept going to your neck. His fingers buried themselves in your hair, and he pulled your head forward and up. Lips brushed against yours, lightly at first, pulling away almost immediately. Then his lips pressed harder against yours. Too hard. You turned away.

He released you. You braced yourself for more touching, but he didn’t do anything else. You placed both hands down on the bed, gripping the sheets, waiting for him to do something. Had he decided to leave? Was it over? You twisted the sheets, wishing you could see.

Then the mattress shook. You looked around, seeing nothing but darkness. What was he doing? The mattress continued to shake.

You almost threw yourself off the bed when his hands grabbed your waist. He pulled you backward, pulling you all the way onto the bed. Then you felt your back press against bare skin. His arms wrapped around your waist, and he began kissing your shoulder. His hands rubbed your sides and his lips moved up to your neck. You wondered if he could feel the way your heart was beginning to pound its way out of your chest.

He bit your neck, and you gasped. His mouth pulled away and his hands twisted your body around, pulling you to face him. He grabbed one of your hands. He picked it up, awkwardly holding it up for a moment. Then he pulled your hand to his shoulder, resting it there.

You let the tips of your fingers brush against his shoulder. You wanted to pull away. Would that offend him?

Then he grabbed your face with both hands, pulling you in for another mouth-crushing kiss. You pressed against his chest with both hands as his mouth pressed against yours. You couldn’t move your face, but you wanted to get away from this teeth-bumping kiss.

This hour would be miserable if he kept smashing into your face.

“Wait,” you said once he pulled away.

He completely froze. His hands stayed on your face, and his body stayed close to yours. You took a deep breath. You used both hands to trace up his chest, looking for his neck. From his neck, you ran your hands up to his jaw. It was smooth, and you cupped his face with one hand. Then you leaned forward. You missed and your forehead bumped against his face. “Sorry,” you whispered as you searched out his lips. It took a few tries, and your lips pressed against his nose and jaw, but then you found his lips. You brushed his lips, gentle at first. Then you tilted your head and pulled his face as you applied more pressure.

This was a real kiss. He began to respond and one of his hands slid down to squeeze the back of your neck. You kept the kiss going until you were nearly out of breath. Then you pulled back a little, gasping for air. He followed you, kissing you again, and pressing back until you found yourself falling back onto the bed.

He followed, climbing on top of you. His face pulled away from yours. His hands let go of you. You felt a chill at the sudden lack of contact. Then he tugged at your legs, pulling them out so they weren’t curled up under you. He straddled your hips, and you could feel cloth against your stomach.

He wasn’t naked. That was something.

Then his body pressed against yours as he settled on top of you. His hand was back on your neck. His mouth pressed against yours, light at first, and then he gradually applied more and more pressure. You tilted your head, kissing him back. You wrapped your arms around him, rubbing his back with your hands.

He rocked his hips against you, drawing your attention to a firm bulge. He was enjoying this. He was turned on by you.

You kissed him harder.

Then his mouth pulled away from yours, and his hips continued to rock against you as he began kissing your neck. His hand slid down, fingers brushing between your breasts, circling your belly button, and then playing with the edge of your underwear. His fingers brushed against your skin, dipping under the edge of your underwear, before circling out, and then dipping under the edge again.

You tried to remember to breathe as you waited to see what he would do. He kissed and nibbled at your neck. His fingers rubbed your stomach, teasing you.

Then he was kissing his way back down to your shoulders. He kissed your collarbone. His fingers continued to toy with the edge of your underwear. Then he dipped down and began kissing his way along the edge of your bra.

Then his hand slid into your underwear, cupping you between the legs. You gasped. His mouth found its way back to yours, and then he was kissing you again. Kissing you hard. His hips pushed against you. His hand rubbed up and down. His tongue pressed against your lips. Then his tongue was in your mouth.

You pushed your hips against his hand. It felt so good that you continued to rub against his hand.

Out of breath, you turned your face away from his kisses. Your hips continued to grind against his hand. If he kept going, you felt like it might go too far. You didn’t know if you could look at yourself if you slept with a stranger for money.

“Wait, no.” You pulled away from him. Your body wanted more, but you ignored it. “Wait.”

Then he was gone. You could feel goosebumps from the sudden chill, as he removed any contact from you. Breathing heavily, you tried to figure out if you could keep going.

Then he cupped your face and kissed you. The kiss was light and only a moment, then he was gone again. “Count to one-hundred out loud,” he said, “and then you can remove the blindfold.”

“Oh. Ok. Um, one, two,” you began to count.

You felt the bed rock again, and you wondered what he was doing now. Would you see him once you removed the blindfold.

You continued counting as you heard him walk around the room.

When you heard the door to the room open and shut, you knew that he was gone, but you kept counting until you finally reached one-hundred. At one-hundred, you pulled the blindfold off, disappointed to see an empty room.

He’d left.

You ran a hand over your hair, wondering how messed up it must be. Then you crawled over to the edge of the bed. There was an envelope sitting on the nightstand, and you picked it up, feeling like you needed a good shower. Inside, you found a thick stack of cash and a note.

The note was typed and invited you to stay in the room overnight and order whatever you wanted from room service.

You crumpled the note and tossed it into the trash.

Then you shut the envelope. You could count the money later, but if it was the promised amount, it might take more than a moment to count. You stood up, and as you were walking out of the room, something brightly colored on the floor caught your attention, tucked slightly under the bed. You leaned down and picked up a purple tie.

For a moment, you just stared at the tie. This belonged to the mystery man.

You wrapped the tie around your wallet and didn’t think too hard about why you were keeping it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, you guys have three red herrings and one mystery man~ I'm planning to make it real hard to guess about your mystery man, so plan for at least the hint of romance with everyone outside of the blindfold. 
> 
> Good luck guessing who it is!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am preparing my soul for the final season of the Good Place this week. (If you haven't watched the show, you are missing out on probably the best thing on TV. Go binge it and return back to this update later.)
> 
> In the meantime, hi! Welcome back everyone! I'm not entirely sure how the first chapter to this ended up with such a strong and positive response, but I'm not going to question my good fortune! I hope you'll continue to enjoy it~

As a college student, you were dirt poor.

Between tuition and textbooks and food and rent, money had to stretch out and cover a lot of expenses. With classes that you needed only being offered during select days and times, your jobs also needed to be somewhat flexible.

You weren’t proud of your side gig as a cocktail waitress. The costumes were skimpy, and the job itself was exhausting, but the pay for one night of work was good. Not meet-me-in-a-hotel-good, but it was still good pay. It was also all cash at the end of the night. So when you managed to become one of the “girls”, you never turned down a single gig if you could make it to the event.

So when your employer offered you a gig that you could make but only if you rushed over right after your last class of the day, you took the job.

You showed up, hungry and tired. When they gave you the Dark Magician Girl costume, you cursed your poor luck and thought about the amount this one night would pay. The hat combined with the wig always led to a headache, but it would be worth it. The Dark Magician Girl came with one of the biggest paychecks.

So you smiled and took the outfit and wiggled into the blue one-piece. One of the girls helped you zip up the back of the outfit, and you adjusted the top for maximum cleavage. Then you attached the belt and skirt to your costume. The skirt didn’t cover your butt, and you resisted the urge to try pulling it down. You would be adjusting your skirt all night long if you gave in.

Then you put the boots on. They were half a size too big for your feet, but the top went all the way up to your knees. So they at least stayed on without a problem. For the millionth time, you told yourself that you really needed to remember to bring a pair of thick socks to this job.

The wig came next. You had a pocket full of bobby pins and braided your hair so it would tuck into the wig cap without any wisps escaping. The hat was part of the wig, presumably so it would stay in the “correct” position, and that made the wig weigh down on your head. You pinned the wig to your hair as much as possible so it wouldn't fall off. The hat was lighter than it looked, but it still felt like balancing a book on your head.

Then you slid the blue gloves over your hands and onto your arms.

Now that you were ready to go, you reported back to the lead for tonight’s party.

“Great!” He assessed you with a smile. “You’ve been doing this for a while, so I’ve assigned you to our VIP section for tonight. I don’t think I need to tell you to treat them to a good time?”

Ew. This speech again. You forced a smile and winked. “Of course not!”

He told you where to report and sent you off with a smack to your ass. You reminded yourself that you needed this job to get yourself through college. You needed to eat so you wouldn’t die.

In the VIP section, you found the twins wearing the "Gemini Elves" costume, and someone had been unfortunate enough to end up with a Harpy Lady costume. Since the twins seemed absorbed in talking to each other, you approached the Harpy Lady with a smile.

She seemed to tower over you, but her boots had a much taller heel than yours. Her hands were mysteriously bare. “Did they get rid of the claws or did you refuse to wear them?”

Surprise showed on her face. “You can refuse to wear something?”

You shrugged. “Not really, but there was an incident with those claws a few months ago, and I figured that outfit had been retired. I guess they might take a no if you didn’t want to wear them.”

“Oh, well, they didn’t give me any claws.” She reached out her hand. “I’m Ami, should I even ask what happened?”

You shook her hand, giving her your own name in exchange. “I’ll just say the claws were sharper than they should have been. It made accidents easy.” The injury had been intentional, and the man in question had been asking for it, but you weren’t going to say that to a coworker that you didn’t know. The girl involved hadn’t been paid and probably wouldn’t ever be asked to work at another event. You wouldn't risk the bosses hearing that you approved of her actions.

Ami the Harpy Lady looked down at her hands. “Wow, well good for me that they didn’t make me wear them, I guess.”

“Yeah.” Even without the gloves, you didn’t envy her the bodysuit. Not that you were in a position to judge with your butt and chest hanging out, but the bodysuit seemed to be one move away from a nip slip. Her chest looked good in it, and you wondered if they took one look at her and unretired the costume. “Is this your first event?”

“Is it that obvious?” she asked, smoothing her wig.

You shook your head. “I’ve just never seen you before, and I tend not to say no to any event I can make it to.” Had her willingness to put on the little teddy earned her a spot in the VIP section despite being new? Or had her breasts earned her a spot in the teddy and therefore the VIP section? You turned to the twins, curious about the event in question. “Hey, Kaiba Corp. again?”

They both stared at you for a moment, as if they couldn’t imagine why you would speak to them. “Duh,” the blonde finally said. She stretched out her arms, arching her back and allowing her chest to stick out. The motion caused her breasts to strain against the blue dress that she was wearing. “I hear Seto Kaiba might even be here.” She smirked at her sister.

You turned back to your new Harpy friend. “Well, you’re in luck. The VIP section probably won’t be too handsy if Seto Kaiba shows up. He’s a dick, but he thinks we’re all trash and won’t deign to even look at us.”

The red-headed twin scoffed. “He only feels that way about you.”

“How many times have you met Seto Kaiba?” you shot back. She scowled at you and didn’t respond. You smiled knowing that you had her beat. “None? Well, I’ve only encountered him twice, but I can tell you he won’t look at your tits, and he’s not grabbing your ass, and if he sees anyone grope you, he’ll make a rude comment about prostitution.”

At that moment, someone started climbing the stairs to the VIP section so you stood up and smiled at the twins. “But good luck trying to catch him. He seems like he needs to get laid.” Then you held out the wand that came with your costume, striking a post.

Everyone else caught on and moved into working positions. Then the first members of the VIP section joined the room. As the senior member of the group, and the most recognizable character, you stepped forward, greeting the three men. “We have bottles available for our VIPs, and if you need anything else, please ask.” You bowed, ignoring the discomfort of displaying your cleavage.

“Woah! Kaiba really outdid himself!” A blond man stepped forward until he was standing too close for comfort. When he grabbed your arm, you froze, shocked by the sudden contact. “She feels real too!”

“Uh, Joey... That’s because she is.” The shortest of the three men stepped forward, and you recognized Yugi Mutou.

The man released you and jumped back. “Oh man I’m sorry! Didn’t mean to grab ya.”

“It’s fine.” You giggled and winked at him.

“It’s a shame Téa can’t make it!” The third man stepped forward. “I bet she’d love seeing a Dark Magician Girl here.”

Blondie continued to stand in front of you, and you returned his grin, hoping he wasn’t about to grab you again. Then Yugi Mutou stepped between the two of you. “Hi, um, do you mind if I take a picture for my friend?” He was looking down at your feet rather than anywhere else, and you couldn’t help but like a man who didn’t stare straight at your chest (especially considering it was right at eye level for him).

“Of course!” You smiled and struck a pose with the wand.

“Wait!” The blond reached out and took Yugi’s phone. “You should get in the photo, Yug!” He pushed Yugi forward, causing the man to fall face-first into your chest.

You froze, wanting to shove the man away but not wanting to get in trouble. He flailed around, trying to get away. His hands landed on your chest once as he pushed away from you and stood up straight.

“I’m so sorry!” His face was a bright red. “Please forgive me. I really didn’t mean to… I’m sorry!”

His friend seemed to find the entire event amusing.

You ignored the blond's snickering. “Please.” You held out a hand to stop the man from saying sorry over and over. “It was an accident.” You wanted to glare at the blond, but you also wanted to get paid for tonight’s party. Instead, you smiled. “How about that picture?”

Yugi attempted to back away from you, but his friend blocked him. “C’mon, you know Téa would love a pic.” The friend herded Yugi back to you, but he couldn’t make him get too close this time.

He held the phone up and pointed the camera at the two of you. You grinned, striking a pose, but the blond frowned. “You gotta get closer together.”

“Are you sure you aren’t zooming in?” Yugi complained.

Not wanting this photo to turn into more of an issue than it already was, you decided to move closer to Yugi yourself. “How about this?” you asked as you moved to stand behind the man. Giggling like the Dark Magician Girl, you pressed your chest against the back of Yugi’s head as you reached out with the wand, pretending to cast a spell.

“Great! Yeah!” The blond snapped a few pictures, taking his sweet time. “I got it!”

Yugi jumped away from you again, and you wondered if this Téa girl was his girlfriend or if he was shy around women. The blond gave him back his phone, before getting distracted by the third man in their group. “Tristan!” He stormed over to where the other man sat sandwiched between the twins. You could hear him telling the other man not to hog all the ladies, but you tried to tune out their fighting. The twins could take care of themselves.

“Can I get you anything to drink, Mr. Mutou?”

“Oh.” His eyes widened. “You know who I am?”

You shrugged. “You’ve been at these events as a guest of honor before.”

“Oh, right.”

You couldn’t tell if he seemed disappointed or not. You were aware of his status as a gaming legend, but you weren’t lying by saying that you recognized him because he was a regular face at the Kaiba Corp. events. After a moment of silence, you decided to repeat your question. “Did you want anything to drink?”

He grimaced. “I know it’s boring, but if you have any water?”

“Right away, sir.” You bowed. The VIP section had limited offerings, mostly the expensive bottles of alcohol, but there were also bottles of water available.

You turned your back to Yugi and sashayed over to the small bar. Ami the Harpy Lady was sitting on one of the bar stools, looking like she wasn’t sure what to do with herself. As you approached, she crossed her arms, caught herself in the action, and then uncrossed them. You gave her a smile and opened the cooler under the bar so you could take out a bottle of water. You passed the water to Ami. “Bring this over to Yugi Mutou. He's never been handsy. At least, not that I've heard.” From what you could tell, he was nice enough and would make a good starting guest.

As she approached Yugi with the water, another man made his way into the V.I.P. section. He approached Yugi with a smile, and you felt like you should know his name. The dice earrings were distinctive enough to remember, but you couldn't place a name to his face.

Ami stood frozen by the two men, clutching the water to her chest as she smiled. You wondered if you needed to hurry over, but then the newcomer began to lead Yugi over to you. Settling in behind the bar, you pulled another water out of the cooler and placed it on the counter. When Yugi sat down with the newcomer, you pushed the bottle over to him. Turning to the man with the dice earring, you asked, “Anything I can get you?”

“Do you have any Baijiu?”

The unfamiliar word caused you to frown, and the moment you realized that, you forced a smile back onto your face. “The bar here is a bit limited, I’m afraid, but maybe at the main bar. I can go check, if you’d like?”

“Stay with us, doll. Just a beer is fine for now.”

“Right away, sir.” Since he didn’t specify, you opted to stick with the first brand that you grabbed. Grabbing a cold mug, you poured the drink before pushing it across the counter toward him.

He took a sip before turning back to look at the two men sitting with the twins. “Hey! Joey, Tristan! You guys going to join us or what?” Then he leaned toward Yugi. “I still can’t believe Kaiba let you bring them along this time.”

“Well, it was Mokuba who put them on the list.”

“Does that mean his brother has no idea?”

Yugi shrugged. “I don’t think he’s planning on showing up.”

You tried not to feel disappointed. Seto Kaiba kept the rowdy, drunk men in line with his presence.

The twins joined you, and the two men with them insisted on doing shots with the most expensive alcohol. You watched as the twins took over the bar, preparing a row of four shots. Yugi protested, saying he really didn’t want to drink, but the other three men tried to convince him that he was obligated to do at least one shot.

The arrival of Mokuba Kaiba saved him. The twins cheered, rushing over to greet him even though that was technically your job. You took that opportunity to push Ami toward the two men who'd come up with Mokuba. She would get in trouble if the bosses noticed her standing around.

The twins chanted that it was time for shots, each of them hanging on one of Mokuba’s arms. They jumped up slightly with each chat, rubbing their chests against him, and you had to give them credit for their shamelessness.

You took advantage of the distraction caused by Mokuba’s arrival and poured water into a shot glass. Reaching across the bar, you brushed your fingers along Yugi’s arm to get his attention. He looked back at you. You pushed the water shot toward him with one hand while your other hand shook the water bottle.

“Thanks,” he said.

“I think we need a few more shots for our new guests!” you announced, elbowing Ami. She took the hint and lined up two more shot glasses. You did the math in your head. Four girls, seven men, and unlimited alcohol. You wondered if Ami would get it together or if you needed to pull someone else off the floor.

“You know, we’re celebrating the release of my pal Yugi’s new game.” The blond picked up his shot glass. His eyes focused on Ami’s chest. His name was either Joey or Tristan but you couldn’t be sure which.

"It sounds like a toast is in order." You poured shots for yourself, Ami, and the twins. "To Yugi!" You held the shot in the air. The men cheered to Yugi as well. Then you clinked your glass together with theirs. You poured the shot into your mouth, before grabbing an unmarked beer bottle from under the bar. Pressing the bottle to your lips, you tilted it up for a moment before tilting it down and allowing the alcohol to fall out of your mouth and into the bottle.

Mokuba Kaiba was sitting at the bar now, and as he said hello to the four men with you, you tried to figure out who was who. Tristan and Joey seemed to be a matching pair, unfortunately. At least you now knew the man with the dice. Duke Devlin. A name that you ought to have recalled.

Then Mokuba surprised you by using your name when he asked you to give him a whiskey.

You knew you weren't the only one staring at him, but as much as you wanted to ask how he knew your name, you couldn't. Instead, you busied yourself by pouring his drink.

Luckily, the twins didn't care. "You remember her?" one of them asked, draping herself on his shoulders.

“I’m good with names,” Mokuba said with a shrug. “Anyway, Yugi here enjoyed sitting with her at the last party. I had to make sure he got to see his perfect Dark Magician Girl again.”

Yugi stared down at his shot glass. “I only said she looked a lot like the Dark Magician Girl,” he muttered into the glass.

His blond friend slapped his back. “Aw, Yug, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. She’s hot, and it’s not like you an’ Téa are dating.”

This wasn’t the first time that men had talked about you while you were standing right there, and it more than likely wouldn’t be the last. None of that made this situation any less uncomfortable. “More shots?” you asked, holding up a bottle of tequila.

“Body shots!” Ami cried, holding up a jar of lime wedges.

The twins joined in on the chant for body shots, and both Tristan and Joey were into the idea. Ami seemed like a completely different girl as she hopped up onto the bar and leaned back. The twins helped her by getting the shots and salt.

You used the opportunity as a chance to take a step back and regroup.

The businessmen joined Tristan and Joey with the girls, but you noticed the way Mokuba Kaiba seemed to take a step back.

One of the twins noticed as well, grabbing his arm and attempting to engage him in conversation.

Duke seemed content to watch the body shots without joining in.

Yugi… had backed away to sit down elsewhere.

You hesitated. In theory, you should join him and keep him entertained. In reality, you were reevaluating your opinion of him as a nice guy.

The desire to keep your job won out, and you carried a bottle of water over to him. You put the water down on the table in front of him, causing him to pick up his head to look at you. When he saw you, he frowned. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

Unsure what he was apologizing for, you ignored the apology and stuck with your professional persona. “Is there anything else I can get for you, sir?”

“No.” He shook his head. “But I didn’t mean to treat you like a… well, not a human.”

You wanted to believe his apology, but given the type of men you encountered on a regular basis, it was easier to believe that he just felt the need to hide the way he saw you. “Don’t worry about it, Mr. Mutou.” Ultimately, it wouldn’t make a difference. You were only here for a paycheck.

You stood in front of him for a moment, waiting for him to say something. Everyone else was still sitting at the little bar with the other girls, so you felt like it was your job to keep Mr. Mutou entertained.

“So we’re celebrating a game release for you?”

Yugi frowned, staring down at the water bottle. “Well, not really. It’s a Kaiba Corp. game, technically.”

You waited for him to elaborate. He stayed silent.

Mokuba Kaiba came over, carrying two drinks and saving you from trying to speak to Yugi. He slid into a seat at Yugi’s table and tried to pass the drink over to Yugi. Yugi shook his head and pushed the drink away.

“So Kaiba really isn’t going to show up?”

“Nah, you know Seto.” Mokuba put his hand down on the seat and looked at you. “I think you’re supposed to sit with us?”

You put on a smile. “If that’s what you want, Mr. Kaiba.” You sit down in the seat next to him.

“Ugh.” He frowned. “Mokuba, please. Mr. Kaiba makes me feel old and scary.”

“Of course.” You didn’t want the conversation to turn toward you, so you asked, “I understand tonight is in Mr. Mutou’s honor?”

Mokuba laughed, and you tried to keep the smile on your face as you stared at him. “Sorry,” he finally said. “Mr. Mutou makes me think of Yugi’s grandpa.” He turned to Yugi. “I’m surprised you’re letting her call you that.” Then his attention went back to you. “I think tonight, you’re better off being informal with everyone here.”

“If you insist.”

Mokuba didn’t seem to listen. His attention was on Yugi again. “Did you hear that presales were through the roof? I think Seto’s a bit ticked off about it to be honest, but even he likes the game.”

Yugi smiled. “Oh, I doubt that.”

“Don’t be silly, Yugi. He never would have funded the game if he wasn’t at least interested, no matter what the investors say.”

The conversation had lost your interest so you looked around the VIP area to assess the situation. Yugi and Mokuba didn’t need you to stay with them. The businessmen who’d come in with Mokuba were sitting around with Yugi’s friends, and the other girls seemed to be entertaining them. You could tell that the twins were more interested in Mokuba by the way they kept looking over, but so far they seemed to be doing their job.

But Duke was sitting on his own. He wasn’t far from the others but seemed to be watching them rather than joining. You excused yourself from the table and joined him, asking if there was anything he needed.

He held up his empty mug and asked for another beer. You took the glass and got behind the bar again so you could get him a new glass and some fresh beer. A cheer from the other end of the bar caught your attention, and you looked over to see one of the twins licking something off her sister.

Duke watched them as they put on their show. You tried to remember what he was like. You felt sure that you’d at least seen him at these events before, but no matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t remember anything about him.

“Here you are.” You put the cold beer in front of him and leaned on the bar, allowing him the opportunity to stare at your cleavage. He looked but didn’t stare, and when he thanked you for the drink, he made eye contact. You couldn’t decide if he would appreciate some company or if you should leave. “So you’re with Yugi Mutou and not Kaiba Corp?”

“Today I am. Yugi and I were friends in school.”

You caught on to the key word in that sentence and tilted your head to the side. You regretted it when the hat pulled on your wig. With a giggle, you reached up to ensure everything was still in place. “Only today?”

Duke shrugged. “My father owns a chain of gaming stores. We’ve been invited to events, but I’d never rank VIP treatment without Yugi.”

He was humble.

And as your stomach growled, you remembered when your last meal had been.

You tried to focus on Duke, but your stomach was distracting you a bit too much. “Can I get you anything else?” you asked. “What about that drink you asked for earlier?” Maybe if you managed to leave the VIP section you could sneak a snack.

“Baijiu?” Duke shook his head. “You probably don’t have any.”

“We might. Is there another name it might be called?”

“No.” He grinned and leaned on the table. “It’s a Chinese liquor, and I’ve never really seen it outside of China.”

You studied the man. “You’re Chinese?”

“Nah, just spent a lot of time living there with my dad.”

Genuinely interested, you asked Duke for more information about life in China. The conversation became one of those rare moments when you didn’t have to pretend to be fascinated by your customer.

You didn’t know how long you spoke to Duke, eventually Yugi joined the conversation, changing to something less interesting.

The party had been going on for a while at that point, and you were starving. Waitresses had begun to bring up food, and you were close to drooling over it. You could feel your mouth watering as Yugi and Duke munched on fried chicken.

The moment Yugi’s glass was empty, you grabbed the excuse to get him a refill and hurried over to the bar. Little plates of edamame had been spread out and mostly ignored. Trying to be discreet, you turned your back to the room as you munched on them and pretended to pour a drink.

“If I were going to sneak food, I think I’d pick something other than that.”

You almost choked and had to take a sip of water to calm down before you turned. Mokuba Kaiba smirked at you from the other side of the bar, and you wondered if he’d ever been hungry in his life. Probably not.

“Sorry about that, Mr. Kaiba,” you said, bowing to allow him a view of your cleavage in the hopes of distracting him.

“If you promise to stop calling me that, you can have one of these.” He held up a skewer of meat.

“Thank you, but…” You couldn’t take the skewer from him, but you probably should stop calling him Mr. Kaiba if he really didn’t like it. “I won’t call you Mr. Kaiba anymore.”

“Thanks.” He held out the skewer.

You waved your hands, indicating that you wouldn’t take it. “No. No. Please.”

He frowned and studied you for a moment. “I won’t tell… if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t get in trouble.”

“I don’t think they’re going to fire someone that I requested specifically.”

You wanted to meet his stare with one of your own, but you knew that you weren’t in a position to challenge Mokuba Kaiba. The fact that he’d requested you meant nothing. They could still refuse to pay you.

So you stayed silent and refused to take food from him.

Mokuba refused to take the hint and held out the skewer.

“Can I get you anything, sir?” you asked, looking away from the tempting meat.

“You can eat.”

“Thank you, but no thanks.”

He pouted but put the skewer down on his plate. “Fine. This is garbage anyway.” Then he pushed the plate away. “I’m sure this party is about to end.” He turned away from you and called out to the two men he’d arrived with. As he wandered away, you could hear him telling the other men that it was time to leave.

You picked up his plate and hid it under the bar for later. There were two perfectly untouched skewers of meat that you fully intended to eat when you had the chance.


End file.
